Though the blockbuster Iron Man 3 has higher expectations than possibly any other Marvel super hero flick, Shane Black’s comic book adaptation thrills and brings new depth to the characters and world. Because of the tremendous success of the brilliant previous Iron Man films that were directed by Jon Favreau, The Amazing Spider-man reboot, and Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, many are mistakenly trying to compare this newest Iron Man installment to the past projects and not look at it in its own light. Though Marvel and former Iron Man director Favreau had a dispute that ended his controlling the third movie, Shane Black who co-wrote the Iron Man 3 script stepped in to add more action and more darkness to the story arc. No one can deny how perfect the first two movies fit the Iron Man comic book character and Favreau emanated the spirit and the great story from the books in two fun, thrilling, witty, and entertaining pieces of art. What Black has done in the third Iron Man film is completely different and a bit rougher, and this is not a bad thing. Tony Stark the genius, billionaire scientist turned machine-suit superhero is still depicted brilliantly by Robert Downey, Jr. whose acting prowess continues to wax brightly. SPOILER ALERT: And Stark is tested throughout with a newly acquired anxiety disorder stemming from certain largely unexplained events from New York, alluding to Loki’s alien invasion of the Big Apple, a terrorist attack leveling his own home and close friend, Happy (played by Favreau), and numerous suit malfunction from his prototype toys. The major theme of the movie involves the coping with adverse conditions of change that affect everyone, including billionaire playboy philanthropists, and finding the perseverance to endure. That said, there is a lot of fighting (in every type of way), a few grim and eerie hacking of TV’s that the Mandarin uses to highlight terrorist attacks as his own commercials, and a very human Tony Stark that becomes desperate to keep his new girlfriend Pepper – played by the starkly talented Gwyneth Paltrow – even at the cost of killing people. Tony Stark as the drunk is referenced by not shown as much as Tony Stark the lost tinkerer who is desperate to avenge and protect what he cares most for in the world but does not know how to accomplish this. This could be foreshadowing a darker and meaner side of Stark that we have not seen before for future movies, as the comic books often delved into his substance abuse and his volatile personal relations, which often caused strife between him and Captain America, amongst others. This movie is funny, thrilling, surprising and full of great acting; Ben Kingsley is a great Mandarin (I hope for his return in the future, though the story made that unlikely), and Don Cheadle reprises Tony’s friend Col. Rhodes (and the War Machine and/or Iron Patriot) very well once again. This tale is deliciously dark, full of explosive action, and very funny from start to finish. Impulsive Review Grade: A-

Well the gods have spoken and Rune Works is finally approaching the birth of some very interesting projects. That said, I am not sure if it is the American Gods (a la @NeilHimself ~ Neil Gaiman) or some other Rune based specimens but regardless the following are on the horizon and will start to grow rapidly in 2013: Cassandra DeMario’s book of poetry has a story that will be told via graphic novel imagery and her words melding for an innovative piece of art, and Rune Works will be have its first Limited Release edition some time later this year. The exquisite editor and poetess extraordinaire can be found on her web site: www.cassandrademario.com A screenplay of a bleak future, a beaten photographer, and an impending revolution (led by the same incredible woman) is in the works to become a potential film. Author R.J. Huneke is penning it, and he is adapting his most recently completed novel for the project. Find him on: www.rjhuneke.com In the same breath as the announcement of the movie adaptation, R.J. Huneke is also putting together stark images pieces of artwork and creating a graphic novel based off of his newest fiction creation. 2013 will be the launch of fantastic story telling the likes of which the world has never seen!

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